History
OriginVan der Eng Labels B.V. originates from a timber factory in Uitgeest which belonged to Jan van der Eng, who set up the company in 1894. The company grew from woodwork and became more specialised. Anything that can be made from wood was previously made. Hamertje-tik, Jumbo games, aszeven for coal fires, toys on wheels and out of this came wooden labels.
The idea of producing labels came from a great-grandmother in the van der Eng family. She was a fishmonger; she bought her produce in IJmuiden and sold it on the road. In the port, she saw wooden labels hanging on baskets of fish and she gave her husband the idea of making the same sort of thing. That way she could make her two-way journey profitable. Wooden labels were the best thing to use in those days as they were good to use in damp conditions. Because van der Eng was situated in the bulb fields area, the wooden labels could also be sold to the farmers. Slowly the numbers of buyers increased in areas such as slaughter houses, skin salters, construction materials companies, etc.
From the start the company mechanised manual processes. Due to the specific nature of the company, the machinery is mainly developed and self-built and materials have also greatly changed. In the beginning, people only worked with wood, and around the 1960s this changed to plastic as the basis.
On top of this, van der Eng became more self-sufficient. It started buying materials from 3rd parties, but later they were cut by a label company; after several years, the company bought its own extractor and cutting machine, which meant that the basis material could be self-produced.
Year on year the company grew. At this moment in time the company owns 2 extractors, a professional cutting machine, painting machine to supply the basic colours (all PMS colours are possible), a fully-equipped factory with 12 die cutting machines. Plus different applications have been developed in-house.
Markets
In the beginning van der Eng supplied a lot to the fishermen; in the 1960s - partly due to a change to plastic as a basis material - the gardening sector came into the picture. Although exact figures are not known, it is estimated that van der Eng is the market leader for producing labels in this branch.
Despite the fact the company has never done direct marketing, the turnover and the markets have grown. There is practically no market that van der Eng doesn't deliver to: gardening, construction, industry, pharmacy, retail, automotive, the meat industry, leisure, etc. etc.
Ownership
The ownership of the company has always been in the hands of the family, and has remained so for over 112 years. In January 2007, the organisation was taken over by Ernst de Haas.